The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Internal combustion engines combust an air and fuel mixture within cylinders to drive pistons, which produces drive torque. Air flow into the engine is regulated via a throttle. More specifically, the throttle adjusts throttle area, which increases or decreases air flow into the engine. As the throttle area increases, the air flow into the engine increases. A fuel control system adjusts the rate that fuel is injected to provide a desired air/fuel mixture to the cylinders and/or to achieve a desired torque output. Increasing the amount of air and fuel provided to the cylinders increases the torque output of the engine.
Under some circumstances, one or more cylinders of an engine may be deactivated. Deactivation of a cylinder may include deactivating the opening and closing of intake valves of the cylinder and halting the fueling of the cylinder. One or more cylinders may be deactivated, for example, to decrease fuel consumption when the engine can produce a requested amount of torque while the one or more cylinders are deactivated.